A curb strip in suburbanGreater Boston,Massachusetts. Outside of rural areas in New England, devil strips are narrow – the one pictured is 52 inches (130 cm; 1.3 m) from curb to sidewalk. They are usually not maintained by the municipality, but rather by the property owner, and are used primarily to provide space for utility poles.
Aroad verge is a strip ofgroundcover consisting ofgrass orgarden plants, and sometimes alsoshrubs andtrees, located between aroadway and asidewalk.[1] Verges are also known by other names such asgrass strip,nature strip,curb strip,berm,park strip, ortree lawn, the usage of which is often quite regional.
Benefits of having road verges include visual aesthetics, increased safety and comfort of sidewalk users, protection from spray from passing vehicles, and a space for benches,bus shelters, street lights, and other public amenities. Verges are also often part ofsustainability forwater conservation or the management ofurban runoff andwater pollution[3][4][5] and can provide useful wildlife habitat. Snow that has been plowed off the street in colder climates is often stored in the area of the verge by default.[citation needed]
In theBritish Isles, road verges serve as important habitats for a range of plants, including rarewildflowers.[6] In the UK, around 700 different species of wildflower can be found growing on verges, including 29 of the country's 52 species oforchid.[7] Verges can also support a wide range of animals and plants that may have been displaced from their usualgrassland habitats, as the soil is not extensively fertilised and relatively undisturbed by human activity. Animals that reside on verges range from small insects and amphibians, to larger reptiles, mammals and birds, which rely on verges as acorridor connecting areas of undamaged habitat. As a result, verges may be managed by local areas to encourage biodiversity and conserve the ecosystems that rely on them.[7]
A sign on a road verge inNorthumberland,England, indicating that the verge is being managed by the local council to maintain populations of wild plants
The main disadvantage of a road verge is that the right-of-way must be wider, increasing the cost of the road. In some localities, a wider verge offers opportunity for later road widening, should the traffic usage of a road demand this. For this reason, footpaths are usually sited a significant distance from the curb.[citation needed]
Pavements and planted strips in India ( Mumbai/Bombay)
Certain nutrient amounts in a verge's soil can be influenced by the amount of traffic on the road it sits beside; roads with heavier traffic tend to have morenitrate in the soil due tonitrogen compounds fromair pollution leaching out of the atmosphere and into the ground.[7]
Parkways, the area between the outside edge of the sidewalk and the inside edge of the curb which are a component of the Public Right of Way (PROW) – that the landscaping should require little or no irrigation and the area produce no runoff.[4]
For Santa Monica, another reason for this use of "tree-lawns" is to reduce current beach andSanta Monica Bayocean pollution that is measurably higher at city outfalls. New construction and remodeling projects needingbuilding permits require thatlandscape design submittals includegarden design plans showing the means of compliance.[4]
In some cities and counties, such asPortland, Oregon, street and highway departments are regrading and plantingrain gardens in road verges to reduce boulevard and highway runoff. This practice can be useful in areas with either independentStorm sewers orcombined storm and sanitary sewers, reducing the frequency of pollution, treatment costs, and released overflows of untreated sewage into rivers and oceans during rainstorms.[8]
In some countries, the road verge can be a corridor of vegetation that remains after adjacent land has been cleared. Considerable effort in supporting conservation of the remnant vegetation is prevalent in Australia, where significant tracts of land are managed as part of theroadside conservation strategies by government agencies.[9][10]
Devil strip or devilstrip:Akron, Ohio;Northeast Ohio.[22][23][24] This term was once used more widely to refer to the space between tracks on a streetcar line, a space not wide enough to stand in as cars passed.[25]
Furniture zone, also landscape zone: a term used by urban planners, indicating its suitability for "street furniture" such as utility poles and fire hydrants, as well as trees or planters[26]
^Hadden, Evelyn (2014).Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and the Curb. Photography by Joshua McCullough. Timber Press.ISBN978-1604693324.
^"An Ordinance Regulating Tree Bank Parking (1976)". Retrieved2024-12-08. It states that "'Tree bank' means that area between the curb, the extended curb or lateral roadway line and the property line." Nearby localities with similar references include St. Charles, Geneva, East Dundee, West Dundee, Carpentersville and Algonquin.
